A trust



June 21,1927. E: CLARK 1,633,542

PNEUMATIC STRIPPER ATTACHMENT FOR CARDING ENGINES Filed Feb. 23, 1926@ifarjafj Patented June 21, 1927..

ERNEST CLARK, OF ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ABINGTON TEXTILEMACHINERY WORKS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A TRUST.

PNEUMATIC STRIPPER ATTACHMENT FOR CARDING ENGINES.

Application filed February 23, 1926.

The invention has relation, in general, to pneumatic stripperattachments such as are employed in connection with carding engines forremoving accumulations of dirt, 6 short fiber, etc., from among theteeth of the moving card-clothed surfaces of such machines. It isdesigned for application to stripper attachments of the class in whichthe stripping is effected through the employment of a nozzle that iscaused to travel from one side of a machine to the other by atraverse-screw that is rotated by means of spur-gear-wheels from aconvenient working part, usually the so-called dotfer-gear.

More particularly, the invention relates to the means for rotating thetraverse-screw of stripper attachments of the said class. It providesfor securing the proper rate of travel of the nozzle relative to thespeed of rotation of the doffer. c It provides, further, fordisconnecting the driving connections so as to permit the traverse-screwand nozzle to stand at rest. I

Illustrative embodiments of the features of the invention are shown inthe drawings.

Fig. 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of certain portions of acarding engine and pneumatic stripper attachment including the saidembodiments. The gear-box 6 is partly broken away in this view.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the gear-box of Fig. 1 and associatedparts.

Fig. 3 is a somewhat similar view showing the gear-wheels disengaged tocause the traverse-screw and nozzle to stand at rest.

Fig. 4 is a detail-view in vertical section on line 4, 4, of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view in section on line 5, 5, of Fig. 2.

Portions of the main cylinder and doifer of a carding engine areindicated at 1 and 2, Fig 1, and at 3 is indicated a portion of aremovable door which forms a part of the cylinder casing, the said doorbeing located in the angle between the cylinder and doffer, just abovethe doffer. At 4 is indicated a portion of supporting frame-work at oneend of the doifer, and at 5, Figs. 1 to 5, a portion of t e guardenclosing the dotfer-gear (part- Serial No. 89,855.

travel from one side of the carding engine to the other side thereof, soas to traverse the cylinder-stripping nozzle 11 and dofterstrippingnozzle 12 along the peripheries of the cylinder and dof'fer,respecively, from end to end of the cylinder and dofi'er. Doffer gear 51constitutes in the case of the illustrated organization an actautinggear for the parts to and including the traverse-screw. The drawingshereof show at 18, Fig. 1, a so-called three-way. piece, constitutingwhat may be termed a suction-box, which is mounted upon thestripper-carriage, and to which is attached oneend of the suctionpipe14;, Figs. 1 and 6. To the said threeway piece or suction-box areattached the two stripper nozzles, 11 and 12. The stripper nozzle 11extends rearWardly from the three-way piece toward the cylinder, itsinduct-end or mouth being entered into a slot 31 in door 3, the saidslot extending horizontally lengthwise of the cylinder, so that the saidend of the cylinder-nozzle works close to the face of the card-clothingof the cylinder. The stripper-nozzle 12 extends downward from thethree-way piece alongside a fixed bar 15, Figs. 1 and 6, extendinglengthwise of the dofi'er, above the latter, the end of such nozzleworking close to the face of the card-clothing of the dolfer. Thisconstruction constitutes a combination nozzle device which is adapted tostrip both the cylinder and the doffer at the same time.

Traverse-tube 9 is mounted in parallelism with the card-clothed surfacesof the main cylinder 1 and dotferQ, respectively. Consequently, as thenozzle-carriage 10 travels across the width of the carding engine, themouths of the two stripper-nozzles l1 and 12 move in paths \v'liicl'iare parallel with such surfaces, the said surfaces being strippedprogressively by the suction at the mouths of the respective nozzles.

The features and construction referred to thus far do not involve theinvention, per so.

It is found advisable in practice that the rate at which the carriageand nozzles are traversed should be so related to the rate of rotationof the dofter that the lateral movement of the carriage and nozzlesduring one revolution of the (letter shall be substantially equal inextent to the width of the mouth of the dotler-nozzle. This relation issecured through a proper ratio between the number of teeth onmotioirgcar 7 on the end of traverse-screw 7 1 and the number o'f teethon dotler-gea r 51. In some cases it is found at the time of apply ing astripper attachment to a carding engine that the doller is rotated atsuch an excessive speed that a change of ratio is l'lQCOiESfli'y, inorder that the traverse-screw may not be rotated at too high a rate andthereby traverse the carriage and-nozzles at an excessive speed, so thatthe doffer-nozzle will not properly perform its work. This change ofratio is effected by replacing the motion-gear 7 by one having therequisite different number of teeth. To provide for this replacement orchange of the motiongear, the latter is removably engaged with thetraverse-screw sha ft by means of one or more screws 72, Figs. '2 and 3.Replacement is necessary, also, when'the doffer-nozzle first in use isreplacedby one having a mouth of different width. For instance, with adofier-nozzle havinga four-inch mouth, and a-tra versescrew having ahalf-inch pitch, a traverse of four inches to every turn of the dotlerwould be given by means of a ratio of eight to one between the teeth ofthe dofl'er-gear 51 and those of the motion-gear 7. If a three inchnozzle should be applied, the

"ratio should be as six to one, to be attained by the substitution of amotion-gear T having a proportionately increased number of teeth.Replacement of motion-gear 7 is necessary in case a traverse-screwhaving adifi'erent pitch is substituted.

is obviously true, the diameter of motion-gear 7 is in proportion to thenumber of teeth on such gear. Consequently adjustnient of the idler-gear8 must be elfected to suit the diameter of the substitute motiongear.Accm'dingly, the gear 8 is mounted with capacity for such adjustment,through being supported by carrier-arms 81, 81, that are hung to thetraverse-screw shaft at 0pposite sides of the motion-gear 7, and extendforwardly therefrom. The idler-gearis mounted between such arms upon 'acylindri ral bushing 82, Fig. 5, which is held in place by means of abolt 83 occupying slots 84in the arms. The slotted carrier-arms 81, S1,constitute a slotted support for the idie-gear. The slots 84-1: extendin directions perinittii'ig the bolt, spacer-bushing and idler-gear tobe adusted to accommodate the diameter of the motion-gear 7 and keep theteeth of the idler-gear properly engaged with those of the motion-gear7. A head on one end of the bolt 83 makes contact with the outer side ofone arm 81, and a nut on the screw-tlireaded other end of the bolt makescontact with the outer side of the othe' arm, and when the said nut istight encd the 'boltand spacer-bushing are clamped iixedly in position.

The slots -8. t enable a larger or a smaller motion-gear to besubstituted to provide for a iititi'erent ratio of speed between theflofl'er and the nozzle, with'the same size idler-gear and withoutchanging the size of the gearbox.

The carrier-arms 81, 81, constitute a support for the idler-gear 8which'is manually movable to enable such gear to be disengaged fromdoii'er-g'ear 51 at will, or reengaged therewith. Fiig. 3shows said armslifted and the disengagement effected. As a convenient means of holdingthe gear 8 thus disengaged, a latch 86 is connected pivotally with thecarrier a-rms 81, '81. This latch constitutes a prop by means of whichthe arms and ear 8 may be held in lifted position. In ig. 3 the lowerend of the latch rests "upon the forward foot, of the gear-box, behindthe head on the correspondingscrew 61, suchhead bein utilized as adetent for the said end of it ie latch, to prevent slipping of the latchand undesired dropping of the carrier-arms 81, 81, and return of theidler-gear 8 into mesh with dofi'er-gear 51. i

For convenience in manually operating the latch and raising or loweringthe carrier-arms and idler-gear, the l-atdh is fur nished with a.downwardly curved projection 87 adapted to serve as a tinger-hold.

What is claimed as the invention is 1- 11. In a pneumaticstripperattachment for carding engines, the combination with a stripper-nozzle,a traverse-screw, and an actuating gear, of a change-gear on saidtraverse-screw, an idler-gear intermediate said actuating gear and saidchange-gear, and a slotted support providing for adprstmerit of theidler-gear to suit changeagears of different diameters.

'2. In a pneumatic stripper attachment for carding engines, thecombination with a stripper-nozzle, a traverse-screw, a gear thereon,and an actuating gear, of a swinging idler-gear support hungconcentrically with the traverse-screw and movable at will to disengagethe idler-gear from the actuating gear and reengage it therewith, asdesired, and means for adjusting said idlergear relative to the othergears to suit change-gears of various diameters applied to thetraverse-screw.

3. In a pneumatic stripper attachment for carding engines, thecombination with a stripper-nozzle, a traverse-screw, a changegear, andan actuating gear, of a slotted swinging idler-gear support movable atWill to disengage the idler-gear from the actuating gear and reengage ittherewith, and a bolt on which said idler-gear is mounted, adjustablyapplied to the slotted support to suit change-gears of variousdiameters.

ERNEST CLARK.

